After I broke up a potentially catastrophic fight (yes Beej was a demon but Maddi was also an athlete and was NOT about to back down), things were a little tense.

She crossed her arms and glared at the ghost next to me. He was doing the same.

"So. You have a pet ghost. That's a little weird."

I stared at her in bewilderment. "He's not my pet-"

Beetlejuice flopped down, his head now in my lap and his hands folded up like paws. "I could be," he said flirtatiously, giving me a wink.

I think Maddi was about to die from asphyxiation from the way she was choking.

I just sighed and rubbed my forehead, ignoring the demon who was still in my lap. I was used to it by this point. He did it a lot.

But that was just him. It never meant anything.

Right?

I was broken from my conflicted, bewildered reverie when Maddi finally stopped coughing.

"So... there's something more going on, here??"

I blushed crimson and violently shook my head. Even Beej sat up from my lap and chuckled awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck, and I could tell he was fighting back a blush, himself.

"No, that's just how we joke," he explained, glancing away from me.

Maddison crossed her arms and gave him an unconvinced stare. "Then why are you two being so awkward about it? I can get why she does it, that's just how she naturally acts to attention," she continued, referring to me with a nod of her head. "But you, you don't peg me as the type to easily get flustered when it's just a joke."

And just like that, Maddi had shut us up simultaneously. Yeah, she was right about me, but I had wondered the same thing about Beetlejuice. Anytime I would show him the tiniest bit of affection (none of which was romantic, mind you), he would just, spazz out. I thought that maybe it was just because he had been touch-starved and deprived of attention and love for so long. But could Maddison have gotten to the heart of the matter, just like that? I mean, she was usually right when it came to these sorts of things; she always had a good intuition. Much better than mine, anyway. Where she was smart and calculating, I was naive and cynical. I believed when a dude told me that we were "just friends" that he meant it. I didn't think anything of it. But later on I would find out that sure enough, the guy wanted to be more than "just friends". And I would feel like an utter idiot.

Could this be like that?

I looked over at Beetlejuice, who was staring intensely at Maddison, his eyes slightly wide and his hair a shade of light pink and orange.

Was that.... panic?? Maybe??? I didn't know, I wasn't good at reading his mood hair. I was just kinda guessing at that point.

I glanced down. Did he really feel that way about me? Or was Maddison just seeing something that wasn't there? I looked back over at him discretely. If he really did feel that way about me.....

Would I honestly mind?

Heck, was I starting to develop feelings? I mean, he did care about me enough to threaten to decapitate Dalton. And I have no doubt he would do it in a heartbeat if I asked him to. And as concerning as that fact was, it was sweet to know that he cared that much.

Maddison was snapping her fingers.

"Hey, statues!"

Beetlejuice and I blinked at her, both startled out of our muddled thinking.

"You two good?"

We made eye contact, and I could so tell we were not good.

"Yeah," we both said.

Maddi just nodded and grabbed the remote. "Okay, well, I get the gist. You got a gross ghost living with you, and I'm chill with that, I guess. Can we please binge some Beastars, now? My boy Louis is calling my name."

I laughed slightly. "Yeah, sure."

"Well, you ladies have fun, I'm gonna go check on Sandy," Beej said, standing up and stretching. He gave me a wink and vanished in a poof of green smoke. I noticed that right before he disappeared, his hair was starting to take on a deep indigo color. It made me frown.

Maddison sighed. "Okay. Talk to me. What's wrong?"

I looked up at her. "I'm worried about him. He was off."

Maddi arched an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"

"I just.... He wasn't acting like he normally acts. Something's wrong."

There was a lull in the conversation.

"You are really into him, aren't you?"

My head whipped around to face her smirk. My face heated up. "What are you talking about??"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It's obvious you've got a thing for the guy. I mean, whenever I mention the possibility of that, I can tell you consider it."

Dang she was good. I sighed, hugging a pillow to my chest. "Well..... maybe I do have a teeny crush...."

"I FREAKING KNEW IT!!"

"SSSSSHHHHHH!!!!" I frantically hushed her, slightly panicking. "My parents will hear you! Not only that, but he could decide to pop back anytime!"

She simply crossed her arms, leaned back in the armchair she was sitting in, and gave me a triumphant smirk. "You know I'm a good matchmaker-"

I held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. "I do not need you getting involved and trying to play matchmaker."

She playfully pouted. "Oh come onnnnnn~" she cooed. I remained resolute. "Pleaaaasseeeeee (Y/N)?? You know I'm good at it!"

I gave her a glance, my resolve slowly but surely crumbling. "If I were to say yes.... what would you recommend doing?"

Maddi grinned from ear to ear, knowing that she had won. "Well, I would say Beastars is gonna have to wait if we wanna get you ready in time!"

I opened my mouth to question this response but couldn't get the words out as my friend dragged me to my bathroom. I had no idea what was going on, and I just prayed that whatever it was that Maddison was planning wouldn't be too crazy.